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MSX and Dermo Confirmed in Quebec Oyster Beds as Dermo Emerges in PEI

Health agencies have imposed movement controls under a One Health framework to curb oyster mortality in the Atlantic Canadian aquaculture industry.

The oyster diseases dermo and MSX have now both been confirmed in oyster samples from P.E.I., according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Neither disease poses any risk to humans eating oysters, but they do cause increased mortality rates among the molluscs.
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Overview

  • The Canadian Food Inspection Agency detected MSX (multinucleate sphere unknown) and Perkinsosis (Dermo) in Chaleur Bay oysters, marking the first confirmed cases of both pathogens in Quebec.
  • Testing in Egmont Bay, Prince Edward Island, revealed the province’s first Dermo infection, though neither parasite poses a risk to human health or food safety.
  • MSX and Dermo infect American oysters (Crassostrea virginica), leading to increased mortality rates and stunted shell growth similar to impacts observed in U.S. oyster beds.
  • Under Canada’s One Health approach, CFIA, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and provincial partners have tightened oyster movement controls and intensified tracing and laboratory testing.
  • MSX transmission remains unclear due to an unknown intermediary host, while Dermo spreads directly between oysters and through parasite-contaminated water.